Sometimes an internship is more than just a steppingstone into a career. Sometimes it can show a student the best way to do business, not just the best way to make a living. Such is the case with the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Rising Start Internships.
The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative recently celebrated the students who this spring completed its unique Rising Star internship program, offered in partnership with the Undergraduate Career Management Center at the David Eccles School of Business.
Students Parker Jenkins, Samantha Falde, Viviana Lopez and Juliana Feinberg all earned $1,000 scholarships for completing internships that allowed them to gain the real-world experience all students look for, while also developing a sense of individual responsibility and a strong ethical foundation–both part of the focus of the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative.
Jenkins, Falde and Lopez were joined by Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy, the school’s Bill Daniels Professor of Ethics; Dr. Tina Diekmann, the school’s David Eccles Professor of Business Ethics; Dana Sowby, director of the Undergraduate Career Management Center; and Taylor Randall, dean of the David Eccles School of Business. Parker’s father, Brent, was also able to join the festivities, but Feinberg, who served an internship at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, was unable to attend.
After some welcoming remarks by Dr. Abe, the students shared their some of their thoughts on the internship experience, and how they fit in to their respective personal and career goals.
Falde, who served an internship with the Utah Department of Emergency Management, remarked on how her classroom studies prepared her for the mitigation work she focused on at her internship. “They treated me basically like a full-time employee,” Falde said.
Jenkins enjoyed a similar feeling of inclusion and responsibility at his internship with Emerald Peak Family, a group dedicated to providing educational and meaningful entertainment options for families, such as anti-bullying videos. Jenkins was the manager of internal strategy, and took part in meetings across all aspects of the company. He said the internship was a fine example of the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative principles being put into action at a business.
“I was treated very much like someone who was greatly valued,” Jenkins said. “And it wasn’t just about money. The service we provide the parents and the kids can really change the world.”
Lopez, a management major like Jenkins and Falde, served her internship at American United Credit Union. She said her expectations weren’t sky-high at first, but as she got more and more involved with the company–including creating a new-employee guide and coordinating ethics and mission-statement training for the small company–she came to really enjoy the experience.
“It really made me absolutely love working for the credit union,” she said of the experience working on the training. “And it made me really commit to the place.”
Dean Randall congratulated each of the students present, noting that “The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative has been a big part of the school for about five years now. And it’s made a huge impact on our teaching and on our students.”
Judging by this spring’s Rising Star Interns, clearly that impact’s been positive.
For more information about the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, click here.
(photo, left to right: Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy, Dean Taylor Randall, Parker Jenkins, Viviana Lopez, Samantha Falde, Dr. Tina Diekmann, Sana Sowby of the Undergraduate Career Management Center)